-So, if we hunt some beasts, can we go on a trip with the group to the city? -
Christopher shook his head -unfortunately not- the children complained, hissing angrily -my dad says that, even if we are strong, it is still very dangerous for us, but we can keep all the gold they give for what we hunt!-.
-Ah- he added- my dad would be watching us from afar while we fight, he will only intervene if we are overwhelmed and in grave danger-.
"I'm in," Mathias said, celebrating. "My parents won't have a problem and will let me go hunting if Lord Alexander will be watching us."
-In my case, it is very likely that my father will participate, although knowing him, he will do it for the sake of subduing any possible threat to the town- Sebastian pointed to himself smiling -I do not intend to miss this excellent opportunity to show off in front of everyone...-.
-This is a good opportunity to see if I am capable of facing the beasts- always thinking about surpassing herself and being able to be like the person she admires so much, Selestia clenched her fist -besides, it is most likely that my parents will not create inconveniences for me either if Lord Alexander goes with us-.
-I have to ask my dad, but considering that Lord Alexander is going with us, I don't think there will be any problems- said Anita.
Suddenly, Christopher turned his attention to Selestia, who was more radiant than ever. He remembered how his parents had previously teased him about her, all because of his desire to start a family with a girl of another race. He blushed slightly.
-I will help you conquer Selestia- Valentina's voice echoed in every corner of his mind -Selestia...- she called in a low voice -in case some beast attacks you, you shouldn't worry... I will take care of protecting you...-.
-Hey- the little Elf's eyes opened wide, her mouth curved in disbelief. Her snow-white face slowly turned carmine. She narrowed her eyes in embarrassment. She brought a hand to her mouth, covering it. This was the first time Christopher had ever said such nice words to her. She liked it. -Y-yeah...- she said in a soft but audible whisper.
-Oh wow- Anita smiled dreamily, she looked at Sebastian and Mathias who were spitting fire with fury -learn guys-.
-Damn Christopher, I won't let you conquer Selestia- those two thought as if their minds were connected. They didn't know that the battle for Selestia's love was being tilted in Christopher's favor.
...
There were five days left until the trip to the city of Nepal took place. At last Christopher's group would have the opportunity to go hunting for some beasts. The reason why they could only go now was because Alexander was very busy with Valentina organizing some things regarding the products to be sold.
The boys wore outfits appropriate to the situation, leather armor and their swords. Long pants with some metal plates covering the knees, shins, thighs and calves.
Same with the ladies, no stupid skirts or miniskirts that covered absolutely nothing, much less steel bikinis, only a real fool would wear that when she was about to face something.
They also wore leather armor, with metal plates covering their shoulders, chest, abdomen and lower back. What was different from the boys was that their armor adapted to their female bodies, which meant that it adapted to their figure itself, their curves, breasts and was somewhat tighter so they could move freely.
Obviously their swords. Here you could see which weapon each of the boys preferred. Mathias, even though he had the sword Alexander had given him on his back, preferred to use his claws and fight hand to hand. He has gloves with steel plates on the knuckles, fingerless gloves so that he could use his claws.
Christopher wore the gloves like Mathias, as he is a fighter both in fist combat and with a sword. He straps the sword to his back.
Sebastian preferred the sword, although that doesn't mean he refused to fight with his fists; he had a belt in which he kept small throwing knives.
Anita's weapons were the bow, arrows and daggers because when it came to combat she opted for a long-distance style.
Selestia bows and fringes on the back, two daggers tied horizontally at the waist
Behind them all and carrying Diana on his back was Alexander, looking proudly at the boys, at the future of the town -just to remind you, my duty is only to watch you and take care of Diana- Alexander changed her place, now carrying her bridal style -I will intervene in case we come across a magical beast that you cannot confront, am I clear?-.
-Yesssss!- they all exclaimed with excitement.
They continued walking for at least ten more minutes until finally Mathias' ears seemed to have picked up something. His ears suddenly twitched - something is coming.
-Everyone, pay attention- Christopher ordered in a low voice, and everyone prepared for the fight. Anita and Selestia took up positions in the rearguard with their bows ready, Sebastian, Mathias and Christopher would be the attackers.
Alexander jumped up into the branches of a tree, sat down, and sat Diana down next to him. From there he would analyze everything - let's see how they do it.
Two pairs of electric rays emerged from the thick vegetation.
-They are lightning bolts- Sebastian exclaimed.
-Dodge them- Christopher continued, those three jumped dodging the magic attack which passed underneath. Dissolving when it crashed into a tree.
-Mathias, where is he? Can you hear him?- Christopher asked as he hit the ground, the three of them covering their backs.
Mathias's ears twitched again - I can't hear him - he tried again, but it didn't work - he's smart. After launching his attack he has remained motionless and I don't know where he could be, but most likely he's watching us -.
-Tsk- Christopher complained, clicking his tongue. He hadn't read much about beasts, so he didn't know which of the creatures capable of throwing lightning bolts they were up against. He looked at the girls, who were standing on top of the trees, ready to attack the enemy. -Selestia! Anita!- he called out to them. -Do any of you have information about the beasts capable of throwing lightning bolts that inhabit these forests?-.
Neither of them took their eyes off the surroundings, but they were able to hear Christopher's question very well. Selestia spoke, "Many magical beasts that inhabit our forests are capable of throwing electric bolts, but seeing the low intensity of the lightning thrown, it is most likely an Electric Horned Servant."
"I see," Christopher muttered as he and his friends dodged another attack. As the beast landed, it was indeed a Servant, according to Selestia's accurate analysis, but it did not seem harmless at all.
"He's young," Alexander murmured. Since the boys were still inexperienced, he couldn't demand that they fight against an adult. Even so, this Servant looked quite imposing.
He was not a common Servant, excuse the redundancy, he was magical. Despite being young, he was much larger than a normal adult Servant and more aggressive. His horns seemed to be a little bigger too. His body was much more fibrous and you could see the muscles marking him with each movement he made. His eyes were debating between blue and white as they shone very intensely. His fur was darker and thicker, his legs were quite muscular with claws. And his horns emitted electric sparks as if he was preparing another attack.
Anita and Selestia launched a pair of arrows, but when they were about to hit, electric rays automatically emerged from those horns that looked like branches as protection.
-With that we confirm that approaching him could be very dangerous, especially considering the metal plates of our armor which happen to be good conductors of electricity- expressed Selestia, a very good deduction on her part.
-What can we do?- asked Mathias looking at Christopher.
-I don't know- he replied -I don't have any information about the beasts... I promise that from today I will find out about them... although- Christopher seems to have discovered something. He looked at the girls -Anita and Selestia, they could shoot at least two arrows each-.
-Of course- they both nodded, preparing the arrows to be launched.
Diana watched the action in wonder, while Alexander's lips had drawn a smile of satisfaction - it seems that he noticed it.
-What do you plan to do?- Sebastian asked, since from his point of view the arrows would be stopped by the protective rays.
-Now Anita!- Selestia exclaimed.
-Yes- answered Anita. The two of them fired a total of two arrows each, heading towards the magical beast. The horns emitted a lot of sparks until a sphere was formed between the space between them, which began to fire a total of four rays, stopping the advance of the arrows.
-Perfect!- Christopher exclaimed.
His friends still didn't quite understand, they thought it was all in vain. But Christopher had discovered something. "Did you realize that?" he asked them both.
-What about?- Mathias asked back, not that he was stupid but the action really made it clear that everything was in vain.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
-That Servant needs both horns to generate the rays, which means that if we manage to tear one off...-
With that, everyone present seemed to have been enlightened by the information acquired by just testing a hypothesis. Christopher was too intelligent. Selestia, with the feelings that had recently been born in her, looked at him in wonder.
-Although it will be incredibly difficult to get close, can any of you withstand a shock?- what Anita said almost as a joke made sense.
-There must be a maximum amount of attacks that I can repel- Sebastian said. Christopher nodded, he had stolen the words from his mouth, but he was very happy that his friend knew of his intentions.
-Then we could all throw a certain amount of throwing weapons and arrows at him, that way we'll be able to see how many attacks he can repel at once- A very good idea had come from Selestia's lips, if the four of them each threw two projectiles, that would be a total of eight projectiles thrown between them all. They would go up one by one until they saw how many they could repel.
-After that the Servant would be just a normal beast without the ability to use its magic attacks- Anita mentioned, in fact, it was a very good guess.
Here Alexander smiled happily. The boys knew how to analyse the situation from several possible angles, but something was still missing. They had forgotten one last characteristic of the Moose.
-If we take away its horns it will still be very dangerous- Mathias pointed at the beast's legs. There everyone noticed in more detail those enormous claws -As I am a demihuman, I know what those claws are capable of. Not only do they look very sharp, they would apparently be capable of tearing us apart and even splitting us in two. Also from what I see, both the front and back legs have those claws- Mathias pointed at the majestic beast -That thing can attack us using all four legs-.
The boys sweated just as the Servant launched another attack, although this time there were a total of six rays. Two towards the boys and four towards the girls, three were slow and three were fast.
The boys jumped into the air once more, and the girls also jumped down from the tree. Too late they realized their mistake, as as they came down from the jump Christopher and his friends realized that the slower moving beam would hit right where they were going to land.
The same with the girls, each of them dodged the lightning that was heading towards their position, they jumped down and the other two attacks that were going slowly would impact right where they would fall.
-IT CAN'T BE- exclaimed Christopher agitated, he realized too late the intentions of the beast. There would be no time for him to use protective or elemental magic to protect himself or counteract the attack. Mathias sprang into action.
-BEHIND ME- he shouted and maneuvering in full tail he was able to position himself in front of his friends.
-Race Magic: Beast Magic: Humanoid Phase - I use the magic of the Semi-Human race, the transformation into beast form and in this case the humanoid.
His torso and many parts of his body swelled and changed shape. His face was now that of a tiger with the jaw and teeth that came with the shape. The characteristic fur of the animal completely covered his skin. His eyes shone with a golden glow, his hands became hairy, and his nails disappeared, giving way to claws but in a humanoid manner.
As for the lower garments, they took the shape of a tiger's hind legs, garments such as boots, being specially prepared for him, adapted to that shape, and his tail became longer.
The moment they landed, Mathias crossed his arms and took the attack head on. At the same time, the girls were also in trouble.
-Arborean Magic: Root Soil-.
They both said in unison, the roots of the trees extended and emerged from the exact point where they would fall, thus creating a second soil, the height of the vines was at most three meters, the lightning struck, but the girls were safe.
-KKgg, uck- the dust raised on the boys' side dissipated revealing behind it a rather injured Mathias, a little smoke coming out of him. Apparently the attack affected him quite a bit.
-Ma-Mathias, ARE YOU OK?- Christopher shouted from behind, both he and Sebastian were absolutely scared. His friend took the attack from the three of them since they had no time to prepare a countermeasure.
-T-that attack would have k-killed me if I d-didn't use my beast form- he sighed, coughing lightly, releasing some tension. From one moment to the next, he regained more freedom of movement. -Be careful guys, apparently the second attack was a bit weaker, but it would still be fatal for you- the boys backed off. Luckily, Mathias didn't need help, but receiving another similar attack would leave him out of the fight in serious condition.
-Anita, Selestia, are you okay?- they nodded, somewhat sore from the fall.
"Everything's fine here," Anita reported.
-Guys, I assume you've already noticed- said Christopher, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand and throwing it aside -that beast is intelligent, that thing is analyzing us-.
"It seems like he has the ability to reason, damn it," Mathias complained, he didn't want to see how far the Electric Horned Servant could go.
- Any other plans? If he has the quality to reason, I doubt he's stupid and will just let himself be killed. - Sebastian.
-Hey- Anita called -that beast is adapting to us, we must end this as soon as possible-.
-And we no longer have arrows, but apparently he can only launch six lightning attacks at us in a single shot, if he were able to launch more he could have done it without any problem, the fact that he didn't do it is a sign that he can't do it- Selestia reported somewhat analytically.
-Very well- said Christopher out loud, resuming his posture, that information was the last thing he already had a plan -Mathias, do you think you can withstand another shock?-.
Mathias and Sebastian looked at him in a state of alert -what the hell are you asking me?- it was almost a complaint what the Demi-Human had launched, he released some tension from his shoulder -of course I can, if you want I could hold on for another four-.
-Electrocute Mathias?- with a sly smile Sebastian joked -I like this plan-.
-Girls come closer- called Christopher, the Servant detected some tension in the air, his instincts ordered him to leave and he slowly began to move in reverse.
-Mathias, don't worry, we will throw throwing weapons at that bastard, all the ones we have so that he will have to defend himself, in case he is only able to throw six nothing will happen to you- in this way he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder -otherwise it was a pleasure to meet you-.
-YOU'RE A DAMN MAN- he complained.
-You will be in charge of ripping off his horns- Christopher mentioned as the Demi-Human nodded.
-Most likely the pain of all the daggers that his defense manages to pass through plus the torn off horns will drive him crazy, Sebastian, you and I will attack the sides with an interval of one second, he will look from one side to the other and when he finally notices the front-.
-We cut his throat, didn't we?- Selestia smiled.
-Trust us- Anita asked, they both smiled at each other.
All right, let's attack.
-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH- Mathias started running at an incredible speed towards the Servant, who showed some signs of being scared.
-Now- everyone threw their daggers, here was when Mathias slowed down because the servant's horns began to electrify again. The Servant's face was distorted in bewilderment and his jaws were open.
The Demi-Human saw a total of ten throwing knives flying past him. The Servant defended himself as best he could, and as Anita had guessed only six of the ten daggers were shot down.
Four managed to get through his electrified defense and embedded themselves in the Servant's chest, he groaned in pain.
Mathias took one last step before jumping towards the horns, the Servant thrashed from side to side, the beast looked at him angrily -YOU THINK THAT WILL STOP ME, I'M A DAMN TIGER AND YOU'RE MY PREY- he grabbed the beast's horns with both hands/claws and with a leap back he ripped them off.
-HYYOOOOOOO- the Servant complained in pure pain. Immediately after, he felt himself being cut on the left side, blood splashing out in gushes. He looked to that side, seeing how Sebastian had cut him with one slash.
He felt the same pain on his right side again, he turned to the other side and Christopher did the same until he heard screams in front of him -HAAAAAA-. The last thing he could do was look before he felt the cold arms of death embrace his neck area.
The girls, as they no longer had arrows, used their last daggers to slit his throat.
-Gurruaa- he was choking on his own blood before falling to the ground, dead.
-WE DID IT- even though they knew they shouldn't shout like that, they couldn't help but do it. They defeated a magical beast, just them, five five-year-old children.
Alexander was serious, with each action the children took he analyzed the possible outcomes and looked for better options. Giving his opinion, so far the boys were doing pretty well. He couldn't complain, the boys really knew how to analyze the situation and based on that devise an attack plan with distractions included so that the beast wouldn't notice the grand finale. Once again he mentally applauded.
He picked up little Diana, who hugged him tightly and jumped to the ground.
-I think that's enough for today, if you want, you can continue tomorrow after finishing your studies and hunt some other beasts- Alexander gave them his thumb -very good job guys, I'm proud of all of you-.
The children laughed, cut off the head, legs, fur and heart of the beast. They left the rest because they could not carry more than that and left the place.
The girls forced Christopher, Sebastian, Mathias and even Alexander to be the ones to carry the beast parts, it disgusted them too much.
...
As they walked towards the village, Alexander couldn't help but ask the girls about their tactics to avoid being hit by the lightning - Girls, why didn't you use earth elemental magic to build a wall so the lightning wouldn't hit you? Wouldn't it have been easier?
The girls looked at each other. "Yes," Anita replied. "But if we used that kind of magic, we would have knocked down some trees that might be home to many insects and little forest spirits."
Selestia also nodded - we must take care of the forest, as I am an Elf my instinct to protect and not harm the forest and its plants, as well as its animals is very strong. So much so that I could not think of using something that would harm it, although in the case of beasts that want to harm me or the town it is different, there I have no choice-.
Alexander, who had a smiling face for a few moments, became serious, raising both eyebrows. The children were giving him a lot of surprises, even he never had this kind of thought.
He couldn't help but giggle as he remembered how many times Valentina had scolded him so far for crushing a plant when he could have simply avoided it. He gave them a smile, but this time a very kind one. He was so proud of the children of his beloved village - if Valentina knew that the two of them thought that way, she would most likely go crazy with love for the two of them.
He didn't say it on purpose, he just thought it out loud.
Selestia stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes shining with excitement. "S-seriously!" she exclaimed as Anita looked at her with laughter. It was no secret to anyone that the Elf girl loves and idolizes Valentina in the best possible way, having the opportunity to be pampered by her is a little fantasy she has.
-And you can... tell him that we...- she felt too embarrassed, she really wanted to be pampered by the being she admires so much, but she believed that asking her ruler to mention that to his wife was an act of very bad manners.
-Don't worry Selestia, I'll tell him- Christopher smiled and winked at both of them causing Selestia to smile with joy -I'll make sure to put in a good word for you to my mom, do you agree...-
-YES, DO IT!- everyone laughed while Selestia looked from one side to the other, without realizing it she got carried away by emotion.